Prologue
ONE OF ROWAN’S EARLIEST MEMORIES was the satellite launch.
At the time, it had seemed so insignificant. Five-year-old Rowan stood in a sea of people, clutching his favorite toy rocket in one hand his mother’s hand in the other. The atmosphere was tense, yet joyful. Chatter—excited words as well as prayers—drifted through the crowd.
It seemed to be a good day. The sky was olympic blue, dotted with a few misty clouds. Birds chirped sweetly, prancing around the trees. Lustrous red banners twirled around the launch site, reading: ECLIPSE: Stopping Climate Change Today.
Rowan wasn’t sure what ECLIPSE or climate change was, but it sounded important.
“I’m so glad they’re finally doing something about climate change,” one voice remarked.
Rowan looked up at his smiling mother, then back to the rocket. It was a gigantic piece of machinery, a version of Rowan’s toy about a thousand times larger. Curls of smoke lingered around the base of the rocket, almost too thick to see through. The rocket itself was a white cylinder of metal, topped with a cone. On the middle of the rocket, the flag of the United Nations was painted—from this far down, appearing as a blur of blue and white. The word, ECLIPSE, was emblazoned below the flag, in blinding, metallic gray.
“See that rocket? That’s the ECLIPSE, Rowan,” Rowan’s mother told him, smiling. “It stands for Earth Climate Limiter, International Project, Satellite Enabled.”
Five-year-old Rowan nodded daftly, not understanding a word of what she was saying. His attention was drawn on the rocket, glimmering in the sunlight.
A chant was resonating in the crowd, growing louder by the second. “Fifteen... fourteen...”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” a man’s voice projected from the speakers set up around the perimeter. “We are honored that you have come to witness the launching of the ECLIPSE. This day, August 12th, will be a historical day—”
The chant grew stronger, drowning the announcer’s voice. “Nine... eight...”
With a roar, the rocket’s engines came to life.
“Seven... six... five...”
The sound was almost overwhelming now, rattling Rowan’s eardrums. He could almost feel the ground shaking. Looking down, he realized the ground was, in fact, shaking. The rocket was wobbling a bit now, going from side to side as the noise increased. Somewhere in the crowd, the announcer gave up on narrating.
"Three... two... one...”
It was time.
“Zero!”
